This election season, Kent State Today will feature a series of stories about voting on campus, sharing information about how and where to vote, first-time student voters, important event dates and deadlines.
Voting as a college student can be challenging, but Kent State University is prepared to help students register to vote and answer their questions about how and where to vote.
Craig Berger, associate director, community engaged learning in Kent State’s Center for Undergraduate Excellence, is the co-chair for the Kent State Votes initiative for student voter education and engagement. “Voting as a college student is really difficult, with the way the system is set up,” said Berger. “The transient nature of being a student and moving from year-to-year can make it difficult to remain a registered voter and know where you need to go to vote or know where you need to send an absentee ballot.
Kent State Votes is based in Undergraduate Student Government but exists across the university.
“Kent State Votes exists to identify barriers and help students overcome them so that they may be successful in being able to fully participate in our political process through voting,” he said. “Voting is the launchpad for students getting involved in our democracy and learning how to make a difference and create positive change in their communities.
Kent State Votes is committed to helping students register to vote, access non-partisan information about what appears on their ballots and decide which method of voting is best for them.
A Fundamental Right – and a Kent State Legacy
Any Kent State student with U.S. citizenship who will turn 18 by Nov. 5 is able to vote and has choices of where to vote – in Kent or at their home – and how to vote – in-person or by mail via an absentee ballot.
For some students who have recently turned 18, the 2024 elections will be their first time voting. For a larger number of Kent State students, it will be their first time voting in a presidential election.
In the 2020 presidential election, more than two-thirds (68.6%) of Kent State’s student body voted. That’s equal to or better than the percentage of people who voted in some counties in Ohio in 2020.
For the Kent State community, it's important to remember that the tragic events that occurred on our campus on May 4, 1970, were a driving influence in the U.S. government's decision to lower the national voting age from 21 to 18 in response to student demonstrations and to empower younger people with voice in their government.
Know Where to Vote
It’s very important that students who are already registered to vote know where they are registered so they will know where to vote. Students who are registering to vote for the first time can choose where they wish to register and then vote where they have registered, in their home county/home state or in Portage County (Kent).
Students who are registered to vote in Kent can vote in-person at their specified polling location or vote by mail using an absentee ballot. Students who are registered to vote in Kent will receive a postcard that indicates which of the three voting locations in Kent is their voting location.
If your permanent residence is not in Kent, you can register to vote in Kent if you have established residence for 30 days prior to election day. If you are already registered to vote in your home county or home state, registering to vote in Kent cancels the registration in your home state or home county, as you can’t be registered in two places at the same time.
So, when you want to return to voting at home (your permanent residence) you will have to register there.
Students who are registered to vote in their home county/home state can return home to vote or vote by requesting an absentee ballot online from their home county/home state and returning it by mail before Nov. 4.
If students have questions about how to vote or where to vote, they can view the resources on the Kent State Votes information pages.
Kent State Is ‘ALL IN’ to Vote
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a program dedicated to inspiring young adults to be engaged in and participate in elections. Kent State has earned the program’s ALL IN Highly Established Action Plan Seal for the 2024 election cycle by developing a nonpartisan engagement action plan that meets program criteria. Kent State is one of only 192 campuses nationwide to earn this recognition at this point in the election cycle and leads Mid-American Conference (MAC) universities in this challenge.
Kent State Athletics initiated an effort for the Mid-American Conference to have its own voting challenge, called MAC Votes. Now, 35 Golden Flash coaches and athletic staff have signed the pledge to share information about voting registration with student athletes – leading all the schools listed in ALL IN’s Coached Pledge Signatories Page.
Important Dates and Deadlines
Tuesday, Sept. 17 is National Voter Registration Day. Kent State’s Undergraduate Student Government will present the Flashes Vote Festival from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. on Risman Plaza. Students can get information about voter registration, interact with student organizations, meet Golden Flash student athletes, see Flash the Mascot and President Diacon and grab lunch from one of several food trucks. Students will have the opportunity to sign an “ALL IN to Vote” pledge to help Kent State win the 2024 All In Challenge for voter participation
Oct. 7-11 is National Voter Education Week, and Monday, Oct. 7 is the deadline for voter registration in Ohio.
Oct. 8-29 are the dates when voters can vote by mail. Oct. 29 is the last day to request absentee ballots, mailed ballots must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 4.
Nov. 5 is Election Day. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m–7:30 p.m. Outstanding absentee ballots must be received at the Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m.
For complete information about how to register, where to register and when and where to vote, along with important resources and links and all Kent State voting activities and events, visit Kent State Votes.
WRITTEN BY: Phil B. Soencksen
PHOTO CREDIT: Kent State Votes and Rami Daud